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Telescreen In A Dystopian Novel 1984

Decent Essays

George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 is a frightening yet captivating story that cautions readers of the extreme dangers that come along with totalitarianism. Protagonist Winston Smith feels he is trapped living in Oceania under a government, the Party, that has complete control over its citizens. Throughout the novel he tries to combat the Party because he is appalled by its constant supervision and the lack of freedom it causes. The Party watches over and limits its citizens to make certain that nobody is wanting or planning to remonstrate them, and it does so effectively with the use of the telescreen, the Thought Police, and even people’s own children. Firstly, the telescreen is an instrument used in the novel that allows the Party to watch …show more content…

The police play a crucial role in the novel as they are constantly arresting citizens for thoughtcrime. One can get arrested for thoughtcrime if, because of his facial expressions, a member of the Thought Police believes that he has a view or thought that opposes the Party. For instance, when Winston writes in his diary about how he is against Big Brother, the godlike figure of Oceania, he worries because “he had committed—would still have committed, even if he had never set the pen to paper—the essential crime that [contains] all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it” (Orwell 19). This example, along with Winston stating that “thoughtcrime does not entail death; thoughtcrime is death” (Orwell 28), shows how severe the impact thoughtcrime has on the way people in Oceania live is. In addition to this idea, the Thought Police also limit citizens’ freedom and privacy. Like the telescreen, people never know when they’re being observed by the Thought Police, because “a Party member lives from birth to death under the eye of the Thought Police. Even when he is alone he can never be sure that he is alone” (Orwell 210). This quotation, along with the other two examples, demonstrates that the Thought Police and thoughtcrime play a major role in the Party’s surveillance of its …show more content…

Throughout the novel, each of these methods of surveillance is used to show how influential the Party is. The Party strongly impacts the people of Oceania because, even though they can appear to be irrational and unnecessary, these different methods of surveillance are extremely effective in helping the Party achieve its goal: total control of its

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